Interview by: Oscar Lidgerwood

Two weeks away from opening their debut production of “The Effect”, Short Straw committee members, Charlotte Rogers, Hazel Pigrum, and Freddie Carew-Reid meet with the Dialog to discuss the importance of student theatre, and open up about their experience starting their own company.

Charlotte: We all met through Lord of the Flies with Four Letter Word last semester and decided to start up Short Straw Theatre Company. We saw it as a way of offering more for students in the community, and exploring how contemporary theatre can be approached in really interesting ways. We wish to find the meaning behind these works, and challenge people’s ideas of who theatre is for, and what it can be. This is also what led us to our show “The Effect” by Lucy Prebble. It’s a challenging play. It’s about depression, love, heartbreak, but we wanted to chose something that speaks to students. Depression is such a prevalent issue, and it’s not something we should shy away from on stage because it’s hard to deal with. Instead, we should take it as a challenge to portray something sensitively with the weight it deserves.

Freddie: The play contains a lot of humanity, it all feels very real. There was also an excitement in putting on an intimate piece of theatre coming off a big ensemble piece, a lot of it is about challenging ourselves. It’s a tricky piece, but we have a big support base and we all wanted to push ourselves and go for it.

Hazel: When we started rehearsing, we were all preparing for the heavy themes and content warnings we’d been given, but there’s also a lot of light and humour to it. It’s a nice well-rounded piece of work that will be great start to what Short Straw is. Starting from scratch and introducing a new company can be hard. We aren’t a big name, it’s a smaller show, it’s these aspects that can be challenging, but also so rewarding!

On top of their involvements with the student theatre scene, Charlotte, Hazel, and Freddie all currently study full time at the University of Melbourne. Acting as artistic director, secretary, and treasury respectively, the importance of student theatre to them cannot be understated. They are all now in the tail-end of The Effect, with Charlotte directing Freddie and Hazel who play Connie and Tristan, alongside cast-mates Rachel Snape and Ludomyr Kemp-Mykyta.

Hazel: I’ve been performing since I was 5 as a dancer, and then got into theatre in high school, but at university everything is amplified. You find your tribe, narrow your interests, and find what kind of theatre you like to do, who you enjoy working with. That was always encouraged for me, and that’s where I’ve found myself now. It’s a nice supplement to my degree, and we’re so fortunate that Melbourne Uni has a really fantastic theatre environment. I heard someone call it a “student theatre ecology”, and that describes it so well! We all have, or will work together at some point which builds a great vibrancy. It wouldn’t be fun if it was just individual people putting on their own shows, it works so well because we’re all supporting each other, and I’m excited to see other peoples work.

Charlotte: I only got involved with student theatre this year, and it was so lovely to show up out of the blue, not knowing anybody, and feel very welcomed by a whole range of people, irrespective of those involved with Short Straw, but other people I know half as well are just as lovely and encouraging. I’ve been incredibly grateful for the staff at UHT, who’ve all been so supportive of our vision as a company. When you’re new you have the opportunity to set the exact parameters for what group you are. In developing who we are as a group, we want to be inclusive, accessible and a space where people can come to rehearsals and feel welcome, but first and foremost enjoy themselves. We all take theatre seriously, but more importantly we want to ensure people can get something out of it in an enjoyable way. Actions speak louder than words and I hope this show, and the future of Short Straw is that space where people can find like-minded individuals. We are a very similar group as what we had with Lord of the Flies with Four Letter Word, and next year a key focus is getting new people involved and expand the network of people, make sure it’s an open inviting group. 

Freddie: The atmosphere at uni is just so rich, everyone wants to create. Through this process I’ve found the key part is all the people you have around you. I’ve worked with other companies, like the Melbourne Uni Shakespeare Company. All of this was emerging from COVID, with online shows, so Lord of the Flies brought me back into the swing of things. You take one chance and a thousand pathways open up. Just practically, all the theatre groups are on social media, they’re putting out their announcements, you can sign up to the UHT newsletter “Followspot”, and if you just take that step, so many opportunities come flooding in.

Hazel: Like Charlotte, Lord of the Flies was my first involvement with student theatre. I went my whole first year without getting involved because it can be hard, and at times appear insular. You’re auditioning for everything and it can be a lot, but you really just have to throw yourself into it. Once you do your first show suddenly you’re introduced to so many people and great opportunities that come from that. But even outside of the productions, theatre on campus is massive, and UHT is such a good base. They hold all these incredible workshops, and if auditioning is too daunting, or you don’t know where to start, I would go into those areas that builds great connections and confidence in whatever area you may be interested in. 

Charlotte: The important thing to remember is that people want you here. People are encouraging and genuinely really lovely. What I really enjoy about the theatre community is there’s not a negative sense of competition, everyone wants every group and individual to make the best work they can, and have the best time. Everyone’s rooting for each other, and even if you’re not here yet, we are rooting for you to get involved. The only reason this is happening now is because I went out on a limb and asked FLW if there were any directing spots, and there were. Which led to directing Lord of the Flies, which led to starting a new company. If you take a chance, something great will come from it, and I’m so glad I took that jump.

Short Straw describe themselves as “a new theatre company, committed to producing new stagings of contemporary works”. The Effect will mark the company’s first production, playing from 7-9 September in the Guild Theatre, and from Charlotte’s “massive notes list of shows”, it’s clear an exciting future awaits. You can stay posted on all their moves through their instagram @shortstrawtheatreco .

Hazel: We finished Lord of the Flies and Charlotte came to me and was like “I’m starting a theatre company, do you want to be involved?” and I liked the idea, I like Charlotte, so we made it happen. I always viewed the student theatre experience as simply being one show per semester, so to be apart of a committee has been a cool, unexpected encounter

Freddie: Charlotte came to me with this wild look in her eye, and she’s right, you can just do it. I never considered starting a theatre group could ever be a possibility, but you really can just do it if you commit.

Charlotte: There’s also Corpus Machina Collective who’ve done the same thing recently with their first production later in the semester, and it’s is so great. I love seeing theatre being run by female-identifying people, I think it’s fantastic, exciting, and really rewarding to be so involved in it. It offers so many opportunities. I used to just act, and as soon as I had a look behind the scenes I felt I’d barely scratched the surface of what I could get out of theatre. Discovering that it’s the directing, and concept design that really piques my interest was really exciting, and I recommend anyone involved with theatre to branch out in these different areas. Even if you find it isn’t your thing, it’s a wonderful thing to explore different sides, and having that breadth of knowledge makes you a better member of a theatre group. With a cast of four, and nine production team members creates a really collaborative process, everyone contributing creatively to this shared project, and it’s allowed us to dig a lot deeper to make something we can be proud of. 

Freddie: To think ahead about strengthening the company, putting on more shows, and being able to create a legacy to pass on is really exciting. We want to build it up, bring in people and keep the legacy going for years to come, create something future students can benefit from.

Charlotte: I can’t wait to bring new people into the group next year, and discover a wider scope of people that want to be involved. I get a little carried away with “looking into the future”, I have an excessive list of plays, and so many directions we could take Short Straw, which is what’s so lovely about starting new with a blank slate. Personally, I like the variety we’ve had this year, with big pieces, small pieces, comedies, a mixture of different genres, and I’m excited to challenge audiences’ expectations of the sort of work students can create. If I can say one thing, it’s to the people reading this that we haven’t met and are looking to get involved with student theatre, I genuinely cannot wait to meet you, and keep growing this wonderful community. 

Tickets for “The Effect” are now live, and selling fast, you can purchase them here. But be quick, because this is definitely not a show you want to miss.